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For those who do not know about the Fairview Fire District in Poughkeepsie, we have a tax problem. Currently about 80% of our district is tax exempt. This makes the 20% very unhappy because their taxes are very high. Lately we have had a group of citizens who have been trying to fight the tax situation. The commissioners have been trying to do this for years. At a recent meeting held we had over 430 taxpayers show up to voice their concerns. I attached some links to some articles about the situation. Be sure to read the comments posted by readers. Also check out www.iaff2623.org for more info about the tax situation. We have come up with many possible ideas to fix this problem, a program where tax exempt properties would pay a certain amount similar to a tax, forming a Town of Poughkeepsie Fire Department(Fairview, Arlington, and New Hamburg,) and other ideas. I am just looking for any thoughts, suggestions or comments on the situation that may help us out. Also keep in mind that the county and state government have been far from helpful in our situation. Thanks. http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/apps/pb...D=2008804240333 http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/apps/pb...ID=200880424039 http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/apps/pb...D=2008804250339 http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/apps/pb...D=2008804270345

This is possible and it happens, when both ambulances are out and a fire call comes in, the City of Poughkeepsie responds, if they are already on an alarm, then Arlington responds. If it is a third EMS call, Alamo is usually dispatched.

Ok, a little bit more about our department. First I want to say that I believe that all of this information is true, but I have been to so many meetings and heard so many numbers in the past few weeks that I cannot guarantee that they are all 100% correct. So don't quote me on these as facts. The commissioners come up with a budget and then submit it to both the Town of Hyde Park and the Town of Poughkeepsie and they come up with the levy which is then raised by the fire tax. The list of tax exempt properties is long, for the full list ->http://www.iaff2623.org/index.cfm?zone=/un...age=Tax20Issues The fee-per-bed for the college is an idea that has been looked at for a while. County Legislater Jim Doxsey has really been working hard on this idea. I think this is definitely a viable option. Marist College does give some money each year, it is somewhere between $100,000 and $115,000. Unfortunately it costs the district over $500,000 a year to respond to Marist. We are not against the Dutchess Community College dorms specifically. We are against the dorms being put in and us/the taxpayers, not being compensated for this increase in life hazard and call volume. Currently the field that the dorms are to be built on is an empty field that is owned by the county. We do not have any calls in that field, there is the potential for a brush fire, but that is about it. If a college dorm is built there, we will still not be collecting any tax money and the potential calls will increase dramatically. As far as us merging with Arlington or both Arlington and New Hamburg, their tax payers would most likely be opposed. As Bnechis said, no one wants to take on our burden. Personally I would love to see us merge to create a larger more effective department. I also agree that county and state occupancies paying for fire services is an odd situation. Essentially the tax payers are still paying for the tax exempt county/state building, since they pay county/state tax, but it would be spread out among the whole county/state. The people in the other areas of the county and state may not like having to pay for these places fire protection, however they are county services/state services, that those people may use, they just happen to be located in Fairview. Lastly a little about how we operate. We run two engines, one quint, and two BLS ambulances with four career guys and volunteers when available. We get along great with our volunteers, unfortunately we do not have enough of them. So for a lot of the calls, the four career guys is all you get. So needless to say we are a bit understaffed as it is. I think that for what our tax payers are paying they should get an ISO 1 department, but they don't. Each group operates a bit different, but for the most part on weekdays the two guys on the engine (1 FF and 1 LT) are also on the first ambulance. The two guys (2 FFs) on the truck(quint) are assigned to the second engine and the second ambulance as well. So for a lot of our fire calls we are going out with less than four guys, if there is an ambulance call prior. On the nights and weekends it is similar except the guys on the truck are on the first due ambulance and second engine, and the guys on the engine are on the second due ambulance. It's kinda confusing, but you gotta do what you gotta do when you only have four guys on a shift. So we would really like to increase to six or eight on a shift (still below NFPA suggestions) but that is not going to happen with the tax situation. I really appreciate everyone's input, if you have any more questions let me know, or email me at mmeyerson@fairviewfd.net.

I agree 100% with passing this law. I was researching earlier today if the Town of Poughkeepsie could have a fire department. Currently there are three separate fire districts that serve the 42,000+ people. I found in the State of New York Local Town Law, that fire protection is not the responsibility of a town and a town cannot provide this service. The service must be provided by a separate fire district. The town is responsible to provide police protection, why not fire protection? I am also in support of a Town of Poughkeepsie Fire Department, by merging the Fairview Fire District, Arlington Fire District and New Hamburgh Fire District, into one large combination department. Are people from the area/departments for this or against this?

Fairview in Poughkeepsie had 1818 for 2007.

East Fishkill's 2008 proposed budget is $3,331,550.00 Arlington's 2008 proposed budget is $13,136,600.00 Fairview's 2008 proposed budget is 3,200,00.00 (about) East Fishkill's fire tax rate for 2007 was 5.83% Arlington's fire tax rate for 2007 was 7.06% Fairview's fire tax rate for 2007 was 9.70% in Hyde Park and 10.49% in Poughkeepsie

Fairview in Poughkeepsie - www.iaff2623.org